Knock Knock-Searching for the Truth
by WanderingSoul96
Summary: When a lodger finds himself haunted by beings he can t explain, he starts questioning if what he sees is real. Science and logic are his dogmas but can they give him answers about what is happening? Why is this happening? What they want from him? Who is knocking the door?(Read my profile for information about new chapters)
1. Prologue

``_May 10th 1980_

_This is the third day without proper sleep, it is becoming harder and harder to do my profession, my head hurts like someone is hitting my skull again and again and my eyesight is just a shadow of its former self but nonetheless I must go on. My work is very important and I know someone will find a use for it, somewhere, someday…_

_It is midnight and once again I am not able to sleep or rest, it is probably somnolence from the excessive work I have been doing, yes that´s it…Maybe I should work less and rest during the day´´ _

Knock Knock Knock, someone banged the door several times. I grabbed the lamp on my desk and lighted the candle inside, who could be at this time in the night? I am not expecting anyone. There is no one inside this house besides me and no one lives at the forest. Then who banged the door? I put my slippers and walked towards the door, who could it be? Maybe a lost wanderer or someone in need ? Better check it up. The wooden door stood before me, but the banging has stopped for some time now. I grabbed the knob and opened it, the knobs creaked because of the lack of oil, I better fix that later…

Nothing, absolutely nothing. No person was standing at the door, no abandoned baby, no one calling for help and not even a lost animal. Just the murky forest with the same dead trees without a single green leaf. After looking at the sides to make sure there wasn´t anyone I closed the door and returned to my room.

**Knock Knock:Searching for the Truth**


	2. Eyestrain

**Author Notes:This chapter is short because I want to make strategic pauses, clifthangers I could say. There will be many more chapters and they will be a lot longer than this but the history won´t be TOO long but also not too short. I finished the game twice, heard some theories, created some of my own and listened to every dialogue the lodger has to say to make this fiction. You should be aware, however, that I will not follow the exact same occurrences of the game, some things won´t be include while others will be added, all for the sake of the atmosphere and "heart" of the game. **

**I believe the ones who didn´t play this game will understand what is happening, sooner or later. As for the ones that finished the game, I hope I can give an entertaining history where they can find some answers. This isn´t a straightforward tale, but "Just because you can´t see, it doesn´t mean it isn´t there".**

I walked back into my room, passed through the living room, the red hall, the kitchen, another hall, the kitchen…the kitchen? Didn´t I pass here already? I walked towards the window and looked outside.

It was still night, the moon was shinning in the sky but many tree branches stood in the way, casting looming shadows over the forest and the kitchen´s floor. The trees creaked in agony as a wind passed through the forest, fortunately the window was closed, as it should be, for it is very cold during the night. I returned to my journey back to my room, taking care to not trip or fall over with my lamp. Normally someone would light the lamps on the room, but I don´t feel the need to. The sudden light hurts my eyes and the trip back isn´t that long.

Finally my room! It took longer than I expected, maybe its because it has been a long time since I attended the door. How I miss company…I remember when many guests visited my home, how we would talk and chat all the night before they resume their journeys on the morning. But that was a long time ago, when the forest was replete of life and not the dying organism that lives on her place now. Mother´s nature is a machine, working systematically in cycles and this forest is no different. Leaves turn dry and then they become fertilizer for the next generations of trees.

I should probably get back to sleep or I will stay awake for the entire night. I wore off the slippers, placed the lamp on the desk and blew the candle inside. Now I have to do is close my eyes and hope to get some sleep.

Inside a dark forest lived a man, a scientist or a worldlogist as he called. The man had a short spiky red hair and a young face for his age, there wasn´t much else that defined his appearance besides that though. All his folk were dead or far, far away and so he lived alone inside his inherited house.

I was standing at the door again, with my lamp on my hand and slippers on my feet. How did I end up here? Did I walk here during sleep? Geez, I must be a somnambulist, that´s the only explanation. Fortunately I always lock the door so there is no real problem with that. I guess…I better check the forest. Since I can´t sleep it´s better to work a bit to pass time. I am a worldlogist, my research involves the changes of the world and how it works. My current research involves the changes on the forest, including the entire ecological niche of the place. I closed the door behind me and locked it. I am glad I am using my scarf because the night is very cold.

Interesting…I hear frogs croaking somewhere, so there IS still life in this forest after all. Or this was merely the sound of a cracking tree? The sound came again, no, surely it's a cracking tree, my mind deceived me again. The trees didn´t change a bit and the ground is still soaked with mud and dry leaves, I guess I don´t need to write on my diary this tim-What´s over there? Is that a man leaning on a tree? ``Hey you! What are you doing here in the middle of the night?´´ I asked walking towards the man, he didn´t even flinch. ``Are you lost?´´ is he deaf? I touched his shoulder, but then I felt a harsh surface, I was touching the branch of a tree. What? It is just a tree with contorted branches, I swear I saw a man here. I rubbed my eyes, it is definitively a tree, I must have thought the branches as arms and the trunk as the body. My candle is half the size now,I better go back home. When I turned, I saw something that could only be described as unaccountable.

Three animals were on the ground, chatting with each other. There was a fish with a human head, the fins covering the cheeks. A bird was chatting with a small deer, both had human heads, somehow they didn´t notice me. ``So, do you know the way back to the farm?´´ the bird asked, ``Oh my! What do we do? We are lost! Lost! Oh my!´´ the fish exclaimed, ``I don´t know any farm around here, but there is a city if you…´´ the deer answered. I can´t take it anymore! I ran the fastest I could back the way I came, wax fell on my hand but it didn´t matter I had to go back home. There it is! My house, my fortress! Where is my key? Where it is?! Oh here! I opened the door and…

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock…Ah! Uh? I am on my bed now. I put the blankets aside and sat on my bed. The clock is ticking, I am definitively awake now. What a horrible nightmare! I dreamed that someone knocked the door, I checked the door and went to sleep. But then awoke on the entrance, or so I thought and then…I saw that group of animals talking, I panicked and ran to my home. Uff! I am glad that it was just a dream, a bad one I must say.

These nightmares have been plaguing me for some time now, it is always the same thing. Someone knocks the door but there is no one there. Why I keep dreaming about that? I feel like it is something very important, but I can´t remember what. I must be really lonely to dream about that, I mean…I do miss the company of other people, but that can´t be helped, there is no one besides me at home and no one alive in the forest.


	3. Night Round

I looked at the clock at the side of my bed, it is five o´clock. As usual, the morning will soon come, I better check my house meanwhile, to see if everything is in place. I jumped off my bed and put my slippers, now where is my candle? Oh, here it is, on the desk together with my diary. I walked out of the room and into a dark room, I can´t see anything, even with the candle so I turned on the switch. Sparkles came from the lamp but it didn´t lit, I really neglected this house. Ah, I guess there is no other way, I must fix it myself. Let´s see…the strings are just out of place, ok there! This should do it, now for the switch. Eureka! Light!

The light is too bright! Ok, close my eyes and wait for them to adjust, one,two, three…I opened them again. The room is quite neat, this is where I put my collection of bugs, selected species are displayed inside cases on the wall, there is a shelf filled with jars on my right and a wooden table on my left. They are probably the only things left alive in the forest, for even small animals like birds seen to have perished. I guess everything is in order, now to the other room.

What is wrong with this house? This switch isn´t working too! I better fix this lamp too, or I won´t be able to work at night. Perhaps they broke because of the lack of use, or maybe the cable network is too old, one more thing to check later oh well…Done, one more lamp fixed. This room is rather small, a cubicle to be more precise. There is a white blanked close to the wall, as if hugging the surface. This is one of my spare ones, because my own is in my bedroom. It is rather dirty and used, I guess I was going to take it to the laundry but forgot. I will do it later, now I have to check the remaining rooms.

Ahrg! Uf!Uf Arf! My heart! It was just a lighting…that was loud! It almost blew my eardrums. Alright, calm down, it is just mother nature doing its job. Maybe it will rain soon and in the best hypothesis, bring some life to this rotten forest. Bam! The door closed behind me, weird, I felt an air current passing through me, that must be what closed it. It is locked? How it locked itself? The gears should work in circles, this wind shouldn´t lock the system. Fortunately I have a clips on my pocket. I let down the candle on the ground and put the piece of metal inside the hole. A turn to the left, two to the right, one up, three down…

The lodger didn´t see what was lurking behind the door and made the terrible mistake to stay inside the room. Unknown to him, a pair of black sleeves´ covered hands emerged from the door, as if trying to grasp his head.

The light flickered so I looked upwards. Oh gosh! I stumbled backwards, there is a pair of hands emerging from the wall, they backed away the moment I fell. Then the figure emerged seconds after, first the head and then the entire body. The light bustled in sparkles and the lamp stopped working. The figure is a floating black cloak, there are no legs and I can´t see a head, it isn´t just covered, it definitively has no head! I need to get out of here! I grabbed my candle, wax fell on the ground as I rushed to get out of the room. Looking back I saw the ghost going after me, moving forward and back but nonetheless going towards me. I need to hide and fast! But where?

``Stop´´ a female voice said, it sounded like a small girl talking, almost like a whisper. Why should I stop? There is a ghost going after me! Now I must find a place to hide, but I can´t see anything that can hide me well, all the rooms seem to be empty or just have small objects. Behind that sofa! Close the door! Now I have to blow the candle and then hide! Ok, I am crouched, the candle is off and the ghost didn´t see me hiding. I raised my head to spy if it was still going after me, the ghost just passed through the door, I crouched again and trembled. Don´t see me! Please don´t find me! ``Are you afraid?´´ the same voice asked in a mocking tone. No! Yes! No! Yes I am afraid! There is a monster inside my house! My fortress! How did it get in? Everything was locked! There must be a breach somewhere in the house and I must find it or more monster will come!

I peered again, the ghost seems to have gone to the other side of the house, this is my chance! I grabbed the candle and lighted it with my safety match box I had on my pocket, they have come to be one of the most necessary tools during night rounds. Even though I hate it, I must light it or I won´t be able to find my way back, I hope the ghost don´t see the flame. I must be cautious but fast or it will hear me. The being came from behind the door I was unlocking, so the breach must be behind it. I can´t see well where I am going, but this isn´t important at the moment. I passed through two large rooms, made a turn to the left, crossed a long hall and then crossed one more room. There! I can see the locked door now!

Oh no! the clips! I must have dropped it somewhere on the ground when I fled! Where is it? Here! Ok, now calm down, stop shaking your hands or you won´t be able to unlock it. Deep breaths, deep breaths…left, right, right, up, down, down, down….up and down. Success!

I am at the "bugs room" again, but everything seems to be in place, no broken wall, floor, roof,but….the light is off. I clearly remember lighting it before I exited the room, there must be some connection. When the ghost came into the room with the blanket it broke the lamp and it did come from here, where the light is off. So, if they are related to each other, the ghost broke the lamp and THEN entered the house. If I repair it, it should protect this room from another ghost. I don´t know if this will make the ghost go away, I can only hope so.

``Hey you!´´ the girl said in a creepy voice. Where is she? It is like she is following me? But I don´t see anyone. Oh no, no, no no! I can see the ghost coming back through the hall, how did it see me?! I need to fix the light and fast! This is bad! This is really bad! The cable is detached from the fuse, I must reconnect it. Stop trembling, stop trembling! What in the world?! There is a giant hole in the wall and behind it what seems to be a wall of fog. A giant eye is looking at me. I can feel a cold breeze sweeping my body, this must be the breach! The ghost is in the adjacent room, come on hands! It is coming! ``Don´t do this…´´ the girl whispered.

Light! The hole in the wall disappeared together with the ghost, af!Aff! That was close! Uf! Uf! What in the world was that? Was it really a ghost? There are no such things, they CAN´T exist. Ghosts are, like myths, fabrications of humans to explain the world. But they have foundations in faith and so are fake or misleading. What cannot be proven by facts and evidences can´t be considered real, for there is no proof.

Then what explains what I just experienced? There must be an explanation for what is happening. Also, who is this child that is talking to me? It was like she was…around me everytime, but I didn´t see her anywhere. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick. A clock is ticking on the other side of the room, how I didn´t see it before? Its marking five and fifty nine, dawn should come in a few moments. With light, this nightmare will end and everything should go back to normal. But I wonder, who is this girl? Is she even real? I swear I remember hearing her voice, in my head but…

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock. Where am I? Why it is so bright? Uh? I am in my bed again, I feel so tired… The sunrays are pouring through the window at my left, it seems it is early in the morning. Wait a minute…I swear I was in another room, just after I…closed a hole in the wall? I don´t quite remember, I am sure that I was doing a night round when a lighting scared me, or was that just a dream? My pillow is soaked with sweat, and my muscles are stiff so judging by this I was having a nightmare. Yes, that´s what happened, just a bad dream. Oh well…one more night without proper sleep. However, everything seemed so real…It doesn´t matter, it was just a dream, I have work to do.


	4. Legacy

_``May 12__th__ 1980_

_Today was another day of research, nothing unusual or peculiar happened. The forest is the same, the few surviving animals, the same…I know, that there is an explanation for the lack of change. The forest is practically dead, but with a scarce and little life left, it is like its fighting to survive, going on…Maybe it reached an ecological balance, where it can sustain itself with the bare minimum. Of course, with less animals there is a smaller necessity for resources and with that, the few rains that occur are enough to support the remaining life._

_I must say myself, it is hard to work alone. Sometimes, even the greatest mind need assistance, that happened to Albert Einstein and many other scientists. They only reached the truth with the help of others, unfortunately, I have no such commodity._

_The nightmare I had this morning still troubles me. Right now I can´t even remember what the dream was about, I just remember that I was desperately trying to close something but I can´t figure it out. It can´t be helped, if I can´t remember there is no use for me´´_

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock…the clock is marking one o´clock.

``_When I look at the clock, I imagine how much time I have left. My project seems futile at this moment, but anything can happen. There is a theory, that a meteor vanquished the dinosaurs from the face of Earth in a normal day, no one expected it. If I stop my research now, who can tell if there will be an extraordinary change tomorrow? No, I must go on´´_

I tapped the tip of the pencil on the table, is there something I am forgetting? I better check my annotations, they can give me a clue. Let´s see…here they are, on the drawer of the desk. These are about the trees, these are about the soil…what do we have here? It is a drawing I made when I was young, hehehe, I loved drawing back then. It is a drawing about me with my father and grandfather, we were such an awkward family. My grandfather always bragging about being too old for kid´s games and my father was always researching the forest. I cannot say I was a saint, for I always hid from my grandfather, forcing him to search for me in the entire house. I had fun, I must admit, even with the scolding of my old man.

I looked at the clock again, it is still marking one o´clock. What? I know that it should have passed at least five minutes. I put the drawing back inside the drawer and went for the human sized clock at the left of the desk. This clock is ticking, so why the pointer is immobile? I moved the pointer to its right position and it immediately returned to work. Humph, it was just stuck.

Now that I think about it, I think I had to fix something and bring something to the laundry. What was it? My blanket is clean and so do my clothes, so what I had to clean? If my blanket is clean, that means it is new, so I probably changed some time ago, then…there might be a dirty blanket somewhere on the house. I still can´t sleep, so I guess I will go after the blanket meanwhile. My lamp is over the desk and I am already wearing my slippers so there is nothing left to do.

I walked outside my room and went for a large room, I can´t even see the other side of it. My lamp is not enough, I will have to turn on the light. Broken…is that what I was supposed to fix? I put down the lamp on the ground and stood on the tip of my fingers to reach the broken lamp. One of the main cables is missing, weird, how something like that can detach itself? There is nothing I can do without the cable, I will have to find another o…What is this feeling? Why do I feel I am being observed?

The lodger slowly turned his head…not sure if he was just over thinking or being paranoid. But all he could see was the darkness of the room…

The wind is blowing a window at the other side of the room, nothing unusual there. Even though it is cold outside, my house is actually really warming inside since there are no openings where the wind can sneak in. Now, back with the problem. Where I stored my spare cables? If I recall correctly, there should be a collection of spare materials on the attic, I should go there first. The ladder is over there, close to the wall.

The room is large, but I the only object placed in here is a telescope close to a large rectangular window, this is the observation room. The floor is composed of antique tiles arranged in a circular pattern and, like the giant equipment, is a relic of years ago. I inherited it from my father, whom inherited from my grandfather. I still remember my father teaching me how to use it, perhaps I should take a look? No, this isn´t why I came here.

There are two doors, one in the left and the other in the right. Which one is the storage room? Why I am even bothering? It is not like I could choose just one of them. Let´s see the right one. It´s the storage room, I can see the lamp´s glass shinning with the candle´s fire. There are many boxes spread across the room, each containing a specific material or object. Lamps, bottles, oil…here it is, cables. I ripped the tape that serves as a seal and opened the box, many different kinds of wires are organized inside, I need a black one. For some reason there is only a handful of the black ones, where there are several of the other colors. I will have to obtain more of the black ones if I wish to work at night.

I receive supplies weekly from s town not too far away, someone pays for my project and sends food and materials for me. I never met this individual, nor I heard of him before, but I recall that I received a letter where the man states his wishes to bring the forest back to life and so will help my research. I guess I have to be thankful to whoever this man is. Creeeeeek! I can hear a door slowly opening, it is coming from below. Someone entered my house! I need to…Aaah! There is a figure standing at the open door! It is humanoid, with a white robe and as tall as me! But it has no head! It is just the legs, waist and then a box with many small branches as a head!

I blinked, what? There is no one at the door. But I swear I saw a person with a box head! It was just there! I must be sleeping, this is all a nightmare! Ouch! No? I am really awake? How can this be?! Monsters don´t exist! They can´t exist! That thing doesn´t exist! But I saw it! If I saw it then it exists! But this doesn´t make any sense! There is no one…Agh!

Where am I? Why everything is so dark? Am I dead? There is an orange light coming from the right, a fire maybe? I turned my head, a candle is burning on a small support with a handle on top of a desk. I am under the sheets of my bed. I recognize this room…it is my bedroom.

Was I dreaming? I recall writing on my diary before I went to the attic to grab some wires and then a monster appeared before me. But I swear it was real. Did I go to the bed and don´t remember it? Or was I awake?


	5. Diary

I stared at the ceiling, waiting for something to happen. How can I tell if I am awake or sleeping? Every time I thought I was awake something strange occurred, this last time is a perfect example. What can I do then? I better make annotations about this "dream", because people tend to forget their dreams rather quickly. But what if that wasn´t a dream…? Yawn! I feel so tired…I put my slippers and stood up. Now let´s write on the-WHERE DID THE DIARY GO?! I clearly remember leaving it on the desk! I don´t get it! Where could I have hidden it? It isn´t under any of the papers or annotations, nor inside the drawers. My memory didn´t use to deceive me like this! All this seems rather strange. No matter, I have to find it immediately or I won´t be able to work tomorrow!

Should I grab the lamp or the candle? The lamp is safer, I should go with it. I blew the candle, there is no sense in leaving it lit. I received this diary from my father when I was just a kid. He said that I would write my entire life on it and when the diary reached its end, so would my life. He was the last member of my family fond of speaking in metaphors. I was very young then and took his words literally, I wanted to live a long life so I rationed the pages. I wrote with my smallest handwriting, rarely and briefly. It became a habit. But after some months I forgot his words, for some reason they have come back to me now and they unsettle me…

Where am I? It is dark in here. Where is the switch? Oh! Here! Good, at least this one works. This is what I call the "sample room", it is here where I gather samples of all the resources found in the forest, ranging from leaves to insects. There is, a bookshelf with jars containing said samples, a large wooden desk on the corner with various tools on it and a…pile of leaves on the ground? Why I left these here? I put the lamp on the desk and crouched to grab the leaves, almost all of them are brown yet they still retain a certain degree of humidity. I should put these on a better place, they shouldn´t be left like this. Let´s see…all the jars on the bookshelf are filled, where I can place them? There is just this shoe´s box from my old man, it should suffice. I left the box on the desk with the lid open so that the leaves can receive oxygen.

My diary seems to be nowhere in this room, not in the desk, drawers or the bookshelf, I will have to search the other rooms. Bruh! Its cold here! Did I forget to close a window?

I can feel a breeze coming from the hallway, I must close this window as soon as possible. I am glad that I chose the lamp, or the wind could have extinguished the fire. What? The door is open. I always keep it closed and locked, there is no way that it opened itself. A paper flew in the air, taken by the wind. I grabbed it before it was lost. This is a page from my diary! The page is torn in the half, this is the lower half. It says:

"_You should play this game alone._

_Get up five hours before sunrise. Say to yourself three times:"I didn´t forget anything". Walk through your darkened house and turn on the light in each room. Go back to the room you started in and close your eyes. Try to focus on the first thing that comes into mind. If you imagine a face, that being will come to live inside your house"_

How did this page end up here? And why it is torn apart? Did someone steal the diary and ran into the forest? But who? And why? Maybe there is some kind of clue in the ground, footprints or a fallen object…I turned to get back into my hous-Where is my house?! There is nothing! Only the forest! I can´t see my home, the pack of trees are like barriers and I can barely see beyond two layers of them. How did I end up here? Am I dreaming again? What on earth is happening?!

Something is very wrong here, first my diary and then my entire house! There must be an explanation for this, there must be! But! But I can´t think of any plausible one! I must find my home at once! This place…is weird or am I hallucinating? But my house isn´t where it was supposed to be! I am extending my arm and there is nothing there! This is NOT a dream! I can feel the breeze, the cold, the thick air and the mud. Dreamers can´t feel anything even if they die during a nightmare, I tested it years ago during a self experiment. I must find my house! This is more important than the diary at the moment. There is a route leading forward and there isn´t enough space between the trees for me to pass so I guess this is my only option here.

….

….

…

This is not right, there is no end to this forest. I am walking in a straight path for I don´t know how long and didn´t reach the border. Uh? A bifurcation? There are three paths, one leading to the North and the other to the sides. Which one should I take? Wait, there is something on the ground, at the start of the right path. It is a note, no, a diary page. It says:

"_Dad said that the right way isn´t always the right one and an alternative path should always be considered. He frowned when I suggested choosing a third one"_

Hum…This is from my diary. It points to the right path so whoever that stole my diary went that way, but this page makes me wonder…It is too much of a coincidence, or I am being paranoid? I mean, there are more than a hundred pages on the diary, the chance of this one falling down is minuscule at best. Let´s see…the right path is straight, somewhat safe like the one I walked until now. The left path has some rocks on it and the ground seems a bit wet, a nice change for that matter and the middle one has a dense white fog: this one seems eerie.

The words from the diary are echoing in my mind, something inside me tells it isn´t coincidence but even still…I don´t know what is beyond the middle path and I am not sure if I want to know. I can try the right one, but it look like it isn´t going to take me anywhere. Meanwhile, the left way is different, maybe it will lead to somewhere else. But I don´t recall this path, I never saw it during my trips in daytime.

Maybe I can use the Moon to have an idea of my location. I looked upwards, where is it? There are too many clouds in the sky but I swear I can see a faint glow beyond a group of clouds on the right. I remember that my house is situated somewhere in the East so that means the Left path is the correct one. I gazed at the sky once more, just to be certain. What? Now it is on the left. Are my eyes deceiving me? I blinked, there are two points glowing in the sky, one in each side. I stared at the sky for a few moments, the clouds slowly moved to the sides, revealing two glowing points. These are just stars, the Moon should be somewhere else, hidden behind the clouds. But I still don´t know the way I should go, I can´t just stand here all night. I choose…right one. I just hope it isn´t a trick or anything else, because I don´t have anything to make a trail and return to this point again.

This trail is becoming more narrow, the trees are getting closer and closer. The branches are starting to get in my way and I lost count how many times I had to crouch under them. Wait, I can see a giant shade through the trees´ branches. It´s my house! I finally found it! I was about to run when I noticed the many roots spread across the ground, I should be cautious or I will end up tripping. I stepped on something soft so I looked down. "Hm?" I grunted. It´s a pile of brown leaves. Why my voice sounds so different? I must be getting sick by standing here on the cold. It doesn´t matter, I need to get back to my home.

The lodger continued to walk back to his house,. After he was far away the pile of leaves moved slightly to the side.

My house! I never have been so happy to be back! The door is open, just like I left it. I cleaned the slippers on the carpet and then closed the door. Ah! Home Sweet Home! It felt like an entire eternity in that forest, I don´t know how much time I spent there, but I bet it is an hour or two, at least. I slid my back on the door and sat on the ground. That was one tiring trip, but still…where is the diary?


	6. Preferences

Why there are so many white footprints on the ground? I don´t recall stepping on a bucket of paint or something then why? The last time I painted the house was…when did I last painted the house, anyway? It is weird, I can´t remember. Yet, somehow I don´t think I wish to remember, what´s the benefit anyway? I rather live the moment…

It has been sometime since I arrived home and there are still so many questions to be answered. The pages, my diary, the house, the forest…Everything seems so illogical , yet they are tied together in a way foreign to me. I can´t find my diary anywhere on the house, I double checked every room, every corner and every place. Perhaps, these footprints belong to someone else? The one who stole my diary? That would make sense but the marks are only inside this small room, which I didn´t turn on the lights because there is no necessity. The footprints have a constant brightness and they can be found from the start of the room to the end of it, at the door way. Shouldn´t be there more footprints with lower intensity as the person goes away? Yet there is only this handful.

`` I seeeee you´´ a girl said gleefully.

``What? You again? Show yourself!´´ I looked around, there was no one behind ! Splash! What is this squish sound? It is coming from…the walls? I raised my lam-I mean, candle. There is a sideway handprint on the wall and then other and another, always closer to me.

``Go away!´´ I shouted closing the door, soon after someone banged the door several times, I won´t open it! I pressed my body to the door, whatever is banging at the other side surely is strong. Then it stopped, but I kept pressing it. ``I KNOW where you are!´´ she said angry and then all went silent.

What is this place? It looks like a long dark corridor, the walls are a dark blue with some wet parts. I don´t remember this part of the house… but again I didn´t check the entire house for a long time. I can´t stay here! She will find me if I do, I must find a way out!

This corridor is abnormally long, I wonder where it will take me. Uh? A door, finally! What? Another corridor? This one seems older, I can see several exposed bricks alongside the wall.

A bellowing roar echoed through the corridor, it sounded like the source was far away. A gust of wind filled the corridor, blowing up the fire of the candle. The lodger crouched, covering his ears while shaking.

No! She found me! I can´t escape her! ``Please don´t! What do you want from me?! I didn´t do anything! Nothing! I don´t have money, didn´t steal anything! Please! Spare me!´´ I shouted.

A strong wind is blowing my clothes and hair, what? Where am I? I am on a flat platform of sorts and all I can see around is a blue clear sky. Is this-Ah! I reached the border of the "platform", it is a huge fall! I can see some clouds under me and the forest far below. It can´t be! I am on a rooftop! I can see many small houses, one on top of the other under me. What is this?! The entire land is trembling! Oh! AH!

The lodger fell from the rooftop, screaming for his dear life. And then, a great wooden flower erupted from the forest, standing high over the trees. The man fell in the flower and soon the petals engulfed him as he screamed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! ``Be quiet´´ a man said in a slow monotone voice, ``Who´s there?!´´ I asked, it was dark like midnight. ``Does it really matter? We´re trapped´´ he answered, ``We need to find a way out here´´ I banged what I think it is a wall. ``Why? It is safe and comfortable here. It has been months, years, I don´t know ´´ the man said. ``I don´t know who you are! But I will not remain the last of my days in this place!´´ I answered trying to feel the wall, it is like a round capsule. ``I have to find my diary and what the hell is happening here´´ I said knocking the wall, ``So many things to worry about…It is easier to live in the dark, without anything to worry about´´ the man said, I swear he shook his head.

``I can´t go on with all these things happening to me, there must be an answer! There is always an explanation!´´ I shouted trying to find the man, ``Hahaha….of course there is. But do you really wish to seek them?´´ the man asked. ``Yes I do!´´ I answered. I banged the wall again, again and again. It is working! One more time and…*Bang!*

My head! It hurts! Where am I? My house? Why I can see my house? Wait, why I am sitting at the base of a tree? Does that mean… ``Hey! Are you still inside?!´´ I turned around and knocked the tree with my fist. No answer, of course no answer! What was I expecting? A man coming out of a tree? But strange things have happened recently…Once upon a time they said Earth was the center of universe, yet it was proven wrong. I shouldn´t be so focused on just one theory…

I walked away to inspect the tree as a whole. It is morning and the sky is orange, announcing the coming of a new day. All these nightmares end when the sun rises, though I don´t know why. I must take this as a chance to discover what´s happening, but where I start? Let´s see what we have… This tree is very peculiar, its branches are long and extended downwards diagonally. Generally they rise towards the sky so the leaves can get as much light as possible, but this one doesn´t have leaves…There is a gathering of small branches at the top forming a circular structure, it is fascinating, I never saw a species like this.

What I am doing? I should focus on what is happening with my house and this forest! Then why I feel so attracted to this tree?


	7. Theories

What if…it was all a dream? No, a nightmare? Maybe I dreamed of walking through that corridor while I was actually walking outside. The wall I was punching could be the tree I was sleeping at. Hum…For some reason this forest don´t look so eerie during the day, I don´t feel observed or followed. It is weird, though the darkness can have negative impact over a human´s mind. Then…if that was a dream, how can it be interpreted? I wish I had a doctor with me right now, but once again, there is none around here…Let´s see what I can remember.

I returned to my home and found those white footprints. Then I heard squish sounds on the walls and soon the voice of a very angry girl, I escaped to that corridor, then to a rooftop and finally to a cocoon of sorts with a man. When I started to dream? I think at least until the footprints I was awake, there is only one way to check. I walked back to my house, the door was unlocked so maybe I really did sleepwalk. I stopped at the doorway and looked back at the giant tree. This particular tree is important, I just don´t know why.

Hum? They are here, how did I not notice them before? There are no handprints on the wall, uff! At least that was a dream. Hum…these footprints are old, they probably aren´t from the thief of my diary, they must belong to me or my father. A page? How did I not see it until now?

_``List of things to do:_

_Get a bucket of paint and a brush on the storage_

_Paint bedroom´s walls_

_Fix the bed_

_Find an essence or deodorant ´´ _

This is very useful, it was me after all. But wait. Why I needed an essence or deodorant? The room don´t smell that bad, then why? Could it be…my old room? I moved to my old man´s room after he passed away, so that could explain why I was going to repair my old bedroom. But that´s not important at this moment…right? But maybe I should check, there could be a clue inside that dusty room.

The door is locked, none of my keys fits the hole. Why I locked the door anyway? I picked my lock pick from my pocket, this should do it. Right, Left, Up, Up, Down…it didn´t work? But it checked the mechanism and followed the clicking sounds, it should open the door. Maybe the mechanism is broken, it is old after all. The door is made of a very hard wood, I can´t bust it open either. Dam! When I had something to follow!

I went to the kitchen, I need some coffee to stay awake. I grabbed a bunch of grains and filtered them, it was only the necessary to fill a large cup with it, since I don´t have too many resources. The drink is bitter and watery, but it is what I have. I stared through the window, the Sun shone brightly outside and it would be a nice view if it weren´t for the tendril like shadows of the trees covering part of the star. But at least it is better than the ominous night. I wonder, the Sun will eventually die and fade away…Will the world be left in an endless night or someday a new Sun will shine again? The Sun has a deep impact on any ecosystem and all living beings would miss its presence. But me…I better clean this cup now or it will be another dirt thing on this house.

I wonder how my parents met, it is so awkward to think about it haha! Father never spoke too much about mom just that they didn´t get along and soon divorced. What kind of woman was she? Maybe a scientist that had a different theory or point of view? I will probably never know.

…

I wonder what are the challengers of being a father…my childhood was pretty unique I must say, I know because my grandpa told me so and considering I was raised in a forest, it is fair to assume it´s true. If I had a son I wouldn´t know what to do with him. The best I could do was teach the boy Astronomy and some areas of Math but I am sure he would be pretty much bored. Besides I have my research to do and would have no time to educate him.

KNOCK KNOCK! KNOCK KNOCK!

The door! I must reach the door! ``Don´t leave! I am coming!´´ I shouted as I ran towards the entrance. ``Who´s there?!´´ I asked opening the door. No one, again…But this time during daytime, or maybe…My house is still behind me and nothing out of ordinary, hum…``If there is someone out there! Show yourself! This is starting to get annoying!´´ I dared. I´m probably awake, though I was wrong last time. No answer, no person around. ``Please! If you have something to say, do it!´´ I shouted.

``_I found you´´ _a raspy male voice echoed. A mechanical rusted arm slid out from house and pulled the lodger inside, he screamed at the top of his lungs but it was to no avail, no one could hear him…


	8. Treatment and threat

I feel dizzy...uh? Where am I? The walls are white, there is a brand new lamp on the ceiling, agh! The light is too bright! Wait…are these bandages on my hands? Why I am wearing this white cloak? Why I am on this strange bed.

``You´re finally awake.´´ a female voice said sighing, I looked up and saw a tall woman wearing a white uniform and a small white hat with a red cross painted on it. ``Am I…in the hospital?´´ I asked shaking my head, it hurt really bad. The nurse frowned, her mouth was covered by a mask of sorts.

``Hey mister! What happened to you? You look terrible!´´ a childish voice called. I saw a small girl next to the nurse, she was very young and it looked like she was 5 years old, maybe a little more, her eyes were blue and the hair was black. ``Mind your manners! You shouldn´t talk with strangers like that!´´ the nurse said angry. ``Sorry sis, I didn´t meant to…´´ the girl looked down, I felt a bit sad for the kid. ``How did I end up here…? I was in my house and then someone grabbed me…´´ I said rubbing my face.

The nurse and the girl looked at each other, I think they are sisters judging by the girl´s dialogue. ``You were found alone in the floor of your house. You were brought here a day ago.´´ the nurse explained, making a long pause after some words. ``Pardon me, this is my first day.´´ the nurse apologized. ``I understand, where am I?´´ I asked looking around. There was a window at the side of the bed but the scenario outside was covered by a deep and thick fog.

``You´re in the city, silly! Where else would they build a hospital?´´ the girl laughed, …now that I think about it…Someone banged on the door at the other side of the room. ``Oh! I must go, you stay there with the man, sis. I will call someone to watch him meanwhile.´´ the nurse rubbed the girl´s head, the woman didn´t look too happy. ``As for you…patient. Don´t try anything with my sister or you will be expelled from this place.´´ the nurse warned, her eyes seemed to widen a bit but then they returned to normal. Someone banged the door again, ``I´m coming!´´ the nurse said going to the door.

I looked at the girl, she was staring at me with a wide grin plastered on her face, this is creepy…``What are you looking at?´´ I asked, ``You have red hair, that´s so cool!´´ the girl answered giggling. ``My hair…?´´ I rubbed my head, it still hurts. Agh! Why my head hurt so bad?

``Your parents must be worried about you.´´ the kid said dragging a chair with her, she sat at the side of my bed. ``I don´t have my parents anymore…not even a friend.´´ I said looking at the blanket, it was a little dirty. I heard the girl gasping in surprise. ``That´s so sad! You must feel very lonely then…´´ the girl said looking worried at me, ``Yes…After my father died I was left alone to live in my house. It has been years since I had contact with anyone.´´ I said. This girl…I don´t know if it is because I lived alone for so long or because she seems really concerned about me but I feel the urge to talk with her.

``I have an idea! Why don´t you try to find new friends? ´´ the girl eagerly said, her finger extended while pointing to the ceiling. New friends? But there is no one around my house to befriend…There is no point in making friends if you will never see them again, ever…

``Mister? Are you ok?´´ the girl asked, I looked at her. The girl had tilted her head to the side. I looked around the room and then back to the girl, I hope this isn´t another nightmare. ``Trying to find a ghost?´´ the girl stood up and then crouched to look under the bed. ``There is none here!´´ she said still crouched, I leaned to see the girl trying to get something. ``Ghosts don´t exist, you will never find one there.´´ I said, was she really trying to catch a spirit?

``You were the one looking around, not me! Hi hi hihihi!´´ the girl giggled as she stood up again. I looked at her face, her smile is comforting to see, if I am to judge. ``I was just checking.´´ I crossed my arms, the fog outside was slightly less dense…

``MISTER!´´ the girl called, I looked back at her. ``You don´t need to shout! It makes my head hurt…´´ I rubbed my head. ``You were not listening!´´ the girl pouted, oh no don´t make that face!

``I was just thinking…´´ I answered sighing, the girl raised a brow. ``Bout what? Tell me! Tell me!´´ she leaned forward, her face is too close for my comfort so I gently pushed her away. ``My house is in the middle of a forest, how someone found me?´´ I asked crossing my arms.

``There are rumors about an eremite living in the woods, people tell he is a mad scientist. Are you a mad scientist?´´ she asked with a serious expression. ``No! I´m not a mad scientist!´´ I said angry, I can understand why they call me a scientist, but mad scientist? Why on earth they would think that?!

``Are you sure? Because there are six fingers on your hand.´´ the girl pointed to the bed, I quickly checked my hands but they were normal, I heard the girl laughing. ``Hahahaha! You had to see your face! It was so funny!´´ the girl held her stomach as she laughed, I fumed.

``That´s not funny!´´ I argued, I almost had a heart attack! ``Of course it is! Hahaha…hihihi!´´ the girl continued to laugh. ``Sorry, but I couldn´t resist!´´ the girl said recomposing herself, she returned to her chair a few moments later. She hummed a song as she grabbed a book from somewhere else. The girl started to write something on it with a pencil.

``Dear diary:Today I met a mad scientist, he searches for ghosts and thinks he has six fingers. His hair is cool because it´s red but his eyes are weird, there are dark lines all around his eyes. In the end it makes him look like a mad scientist. ´´ the girl spoke as she wrote.

``Hey! Don´t write that!´´ I grabbed the book to see what she was writing, I held it with one hand as I had to use the other to keep the girl at bay. ``Give it back! This is my diary! If you wish go buy one for you!´´ the girl protested trying to get her book.

The page is filled with reports and details about an ecosystem, drawings of plants and insects but the upper half was covered by the girl´s handwriting. This is…``My diary!´´ I exclaimed.

``You stole my diary!´´ I looked back at the girl but she wasn´t there anymore, there was only a dark wall and a candle lit on a counter. What? Where is the girl?! This is not the hospital, this is…my house. The clock is ticking, two o´clock now. How did I end up in my bed? It wasn´t even midday when I was drinking a cup of coffee! Something is wrong, something is definitively wrong. Was that a dream? It seemed so real! The girl, the nurse, the hospital…The girl! She has the same voice of the one I heard in the past nights! Was I dreaming about her? Wait, the whole hospital thing was a dream so how come she spoke when I was awake? I looked back at my hand, there was only a ripped page stating:

"_There are rats in the basement, I can hear their squeaks and when they run around through the walls. What could possibly attract them to that place? There is no food there."_

Basement? Anyway how did I found this page? Wait! There is something written on the bottom.

"_The guests are coming, I need to clean the basement quickly or they won´t like it."_

Guests?

``Wait a minute, I am close.´´ a raspy male voice said somewhere.

Oh no!

**Author Notes:I can´t tell anything about the story, you will have to find the answers by yourself, there are little tips on each chapter.**

**As for the story, sorry for the long delay. I am giving priority to my other ones because they are more popular, but that doesn´t mean I am going to forget this one. I recently found some audio files of the game and they gave me new ideas for the next chapters. **

**The story will have a few more chapters excluding a pack of bonus chapters. **


	9. Guest

Stop shaking, stop shaking! I can´t breathe but I can´t take off the blanket. Go away, go away!

"Is this your bed?" the "guest" asked.

No!No!No!

"I want to see you…Where are you?" the man said.

I can hear something being dragged over the floor, I think he is walking away. One. Two, three…nine, ten. Ok, I think he is gone. Arf! Arf! It was so hot under the blanket! Ok, what do I do now? There is a stranger in my house, by what I could hear he was dragging something, that could be a weapon of sorts. I can´t fight him and I don´t have anything to lull him out.

"Helloooo?" a girl said far away.

This voice…it is the girl from the hospital!

"Hello? Helloooo!" she called.

"I´m…!" I was about to call but stopped, what if that man hears me?

"Hey you!" the girl said happily.

"Where are you?" I whispered getting off my bed.

"Turn around…do you see?" the girl asked.

I turned back but saw no one. "I don´t see you." I answered.

"You are missing the point. Look." She insisted.

I narrowed my eyes, I think there is a…

"Your soul will wander forever! Your mind will eternally suffer!" the girl stated.

Ah! There is a monster emerging from the wall! Its body is covered in black and the head is a horrendous skull with several horns on the top! Run! Run! My leg! There are tree branches holding my legs!

"You cannot escape from me!" the girl said with a booming voice.

I have to get out of here! *Bang*. Ouch!My chin! I have to get up! Come on legs! No! She is coming closer!

"Why are you so afraid of me? I just want to play!" the monster said sliding through the ground.

"Get away from me!" I shouted as I stood up and ran.

What is happening?! Is this a nightmare?! An illusion?! What the hell is that creature?! Why it is talking with the girl´s voice?! This can´t be! I need to hide! Hide until morning and everything will disappear! It always disappears when the sun rises! Monsters and ghosts hate sunlight!

"_Trying to find a ghost?" _the girl´s voice echoed in my mind.

What am I thinking about?! Ghosts don´t exist! Monsters are not real! THIS SITUATION can´t be real!

"I am coming to seek you…did you forget to hide?" the mysterious man said slow and bored.

WARDROBE! *Bump*

…

…

…

"Can you hear me coming?" the girl asked.

Just your voice, not your footsteps.

"I heeeaar you…" the girl said gleefully.

This can´t be! Is she reading my mind?!

"Wait a minute…I am close…" the girl said.

What do I do?! I can´t stop thinking! I think so I exist! The only way to stop thinking is to cease existing! But I can´t go out of the wardrobe either!

"You trapped yourself." The girl said with a hint of happiness.

Noooo! My heart is beating so fast! It hurts a lot!

"Peek-a-boo! I see you!" the girl said.

"AAAAAAHHHH! Please don´t hurt me! I didn´t do anything! Anything! I swear I didn´t!" I begged hugging myself with eyes closed.

"Why are you scared?" the girl asked confused.

What? I carefully opened my eyes, gah! The skull monster is staring at me!

"I´m just going to take what is most precious to you!" the monster said with the girl´s voice as it extended its hand towards me.

*Ping* *Ping* *SPLASH!*

"Please don´t kill me!" I shouted.

Uh? This is not a wardrobe. This is a…laundry room? I brushed the water of my forehead with my sleeve. The lights are on? But how…

The light flickered and dwindled and soon smoke came out of the lamp.*Crack*. It is completely dark now. Uh…there should be a matchbox in my pocket…here. But…if I use it then she might find me! What am I doing?! She CAN hear my thoughts and this is exactly what I am doing!

"You stink of fear." the girl said far away.

Screw this strategy! I can´t stop thinking, she will eventually find me. But there must be something I can do about it. There must be a way to expunge her from my house!

"I can hear you shaking." The girl sounded closer.

Ouch! The fire burned my finger! Ow! Ouch! Another safety match. Ugh! I only have three left. If I don´t find the door I won´t be able to find a way…

Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock!

A clock? How I didn´t hear it before? It is marking…I rubbed my eyes, my vision used to be better... Two o´clock?! But then it means I am four hours away from sunrise! I won´t last that long!

Another safety match lost, one more lit.

"Hey there! Meet and great time!" the girl said, I swear she is right behind me.

Moving the pointers! Moving the pointers! If morning comes then everything will come to an end! It must be the only way to banish her! Three, Four…What?! The clock is disappearing?!

"It is still MY turn…" the girl spoke.

Uh! There is a cold hand on my shoulder, now bone fingers over my face! Ah! Ah! No,you won´t get me! I shrugged the hands away and ran. Ouch! My head! I think I hit a door. Open! For my sake open! Come on! Why is it locked?!

"Why try to get away?" the girl asked.

Because you are a monster! And YOU want to harm me!

"It is close…" the girl mumbled.

"Look…Look behind you…" the girl said.

"No!" I answered.

"It is right behind you…" the girl said.

I think I can do it! Just a little more!

"Right behind you now!" the girl insisted.

It opened!


	10. Maze

In all my life as worldlogist I never thought I would see the Law of Physics being broken like this. This is insane! This is a complex of stairs going up and down but there are also stairs built upside down and even some going across walls! How can this be? Even more, WHO in sane mind would build them like this?! It makes no sense!

I walked to the side of the platform, by the beard of Einstein! The fall is enormous, deep and large! I can see only a light blue below as if it was the sky itself! Ufh! I better get out of here and return to…the door! It is gone! I passed my hand through the light brown colored wall, nothing…it is completely solid. I turned to the side and looked down at the stairs in front of me. I guess my only choice is to walk forward, literally there is no way back now.

I reached the end of the stairs and well..I´m on a "wall". There is a closed door on the ground and a wall to the left that turns into stairs after a meter or so and the other sides are obstructed by walls. I sighed, how I am supposed to navigate in this place?! Walls turn into stairs, walls are grounds and there are doors on the ground. Whoever made this place surely lacked any sense of logic!

I looked at the door on the ground, I guess I have no other choice if I want to get out of this place. I crouched and touched the door handle, should I really go forward? What if the monster is inside? But there might be some clues or even the exit from this place. Agh! Why it is always like this?! Can´t there be a straight answer at least once?!

…

…

…

I…I will-will open it. One, two, three and open! Uh? There is a passage leading to a fall? No, it is leading to a wall that connects with the "base" of the door. Or it is a platform? It is so confusing! I sat on the "ground" and passed my legs through the door. What? The gravity pushed my legs towards the "wall" connected to the door. This means…I moved my hands closer to my body and jumped through the door, as expected my back hit the "wall" instead of me falling to my doom.

I stood up and looked at the door behind me, I could see more walls far from my previous position. Ok so the gravity changes depending of the area but when and how I don´t know so I have to take care.

I looked upwards and saw more walls and stairs, weirdly there were some small conic windows but all I could see behind them was only purple. I looked at the wall at my left and noticed there was a paper glued on it. There is a drawing of an eye with eyelashes and something written below it.

"_Seek your greatest desire and you shall find it under your nose. Seek what you already wanted and you shall find it over your head."_

My greatest desire under my nose. I looked down at the ground and then upwards, the thing I already wanted over my head…If I already wanted then this means I don´t want it anymore and my greatest desire I STILL want. But what it is that I most want and the thing I already wanted? I want to know the truth behind all this mystery, this is certain. But the thing I already wanted…what could it be? Nonetheless, if I don´t want it anymore then it doesn´t matter, at least for me.

I walked closer to the wall and followed the way forward until I reached two sets of stairs, one leading upwards and one leading below. I think it is pretty clear what way I should go…Why I am even following those tips? I asked for a straight answer so why am I complaining? I´m complaining because the paper could be something left by a mad man or a stranger.

…

…

…

I guess I´m going down to the bottom of this after all, haha…The stairs seems solid and strong but there is nothing on the sides except the void and the walls far away. I must be very careful in order to avoid a fall and consequently my death. I can see a portion of floor floating at the other side with a wall to the left and the other in the opposite side, it seems that there is another set of stairs to the right leading far below.

I reached the end of the stairs and stepped into the platform. It is actually very spacious, almost the size of a room. Weird, there is a single bed on the left wall with a dirty blanket over it. I sat on the bed, the metal made a cringing noise that could wake even a hibernating bear. I think I will rest for a while, at least the monster isn´t here, phew…

*CRACK*

Huh? I opened my eyes and saw a wooden ladder leading upwards. What? How I didn´t noticed it before? I looked upwards, it is huge! Judging with what I can see it is over 60 meters long and it reaches the other "side" of this place. I…won´t go that way, it would lead me to an infinite loop of passageways and gravity changes. At least through this passage I can turn back and…I looked back at the way I came, yes the stairs are still there.

Thinking about it, I better move along before this places changes in any form or size. I´m not particularly fond of sleeping in floating rooms, even more with my somnambulism problem. 

I stood up and walked to the border of the platform where the next stairs were located. Strange, I swear there were stairs leading down but it is actually a horizontal passageway to the other side where there is…MY HOUSE! I can see my house on the other side! I was about to step into the "bridge" but then stopped, there is a shadow on the ground.

What? I looked upwards and saw what I can only describe as a monster. It is a giant fish with a human head and a blue long eye that almost completely fills its side! The thing is floating above me, passing slowly to the other side.

"Alright, I´m definitively dreaming." I said to myself.

"What do you seek, scientist?" the fish spoke.

Ah! Ouch! I fell down on my rear. That thing just spoke to me!

"What do you seek?" the fish asked again

I can´t believe I´m going to do this… "I seek the truth." I answered.

"You won´t find it here, no matter what way you choose." the fish answered in a lazy tone.

"Then where can I find it?" I asked. I am really talking with a fish?

"Under and above your nose." The fish answered.

"But you said it isn´t here! Also, it can´t be down and up at the same time!" I protested.

"You are half right and half wrong. I´m tired…" the fish slowly descended into the nothingness below, its form getting smaller and smaller as it went down.

Wait, he is right. For a person a cup can be half filled with water but to another it can be half empty. It is a matter of perspective and mood! But…how this applies to this situation? What if…I´m at the top right now?!

AAhhhhh! I´m falling! Oh my I´m going to die!

***BUMP***

Oh…I feel so…weak…But…it doesn´t hurt. I am…alive? I opened my eyes but all I see is darkness. Ugh! I don´t have the strength to continue…

"See no evil…" the girl said.

Uh?! Is she here?! I used my hands to support my body and then looked around. There is no one around, just the maze of stairs and walls/floors.

"She isn´t here…" I said standing up, it must be my imagination.

"I´m here!" she said from behind, I looked back but there was only a door on a wall.

"No! I´m here!" she said from the right but she wasn´t there when I looked either.

"I´m here! I´m here! I´m here right in front of you! Hahahaha!" the girl said from multiple directions.

"Enough!" I shouted and the voices went silent.

"Hear no evil…" the girl suddenly said from all directions.

"Go away! Stop tormenting me!" I kneeled and covered my ears as I shut up my eyes.

"Speak…no evil." The girl finished.

…

…

…

Uh? She is gone…I can´t hear her voice nor see her anymore. At least it wasn´t that giant monster from before, that creature was terrifying!

I better get out of here soon, this place is driving me crazy! But the last door I entered sent me to another part of this maze! How can I find the right path to the exit? I can be at any side of the maze, gravity works differently in this place. There is a door on a wall in front of me. Down can be Up and Left can be Right. Going by this logic the entrance can be the exit, this makes some sense. If I open this door it can lead me deeper into the maze…or out of this place!

Science is filled with great risks, I choose to take the risk and deal with the consequences. I just hope for the best. The door creaked as it slowly opened revealing what was at the other side. The other side is purple and there are light violet clouds coming from the door. I´m going through the door.

In-incredible! This place…! It is so…! Beautiful! Its…its! The gr-round is formed by violet clouds! There are some dry bushes around with small red fruits on the branches and th-e th-e sky is purple with dozens of stars of variable colors! And the Moon! It is a giant Full Moon with a bright yellow color!

This place…! It can´t exist! But I am seeing it with my own eyes! I can feel the clouds, the bushes and…even the fruits are delicious! They taste like juicy blackberries!

A sweet breeze swept from my left, uh? I see something in the distance but it is too far away to identify. I walked through the clouds carefully, I don´t want to risk falling down. One small step at time…I wonder how this place came into existence, it feels so…unreal. Yet I feel a familiar sensation as if I already experienced this before. I can´t describe it yet I feel I should know the answer.

The thing I saw was actually a tree, a contorted tree with a few blackberries on the branches and a…long horn hanging from a rope attached to a branch? And there are also three small wooden statues on top of the highest branch, they are humanoid with the right one being almost half the size of the other two. How weird…I approached the tree and untied the rope around the horn.

This horn is actually quite long and large! It is about sixth centimeters long and it barely fits my hand. There is also some kind of drawing around it, a primitive engraving made with a deep blue color. Could it be from an indigenous tribe, the same one who did the statues on that branch?

"Please! Help me!" a male voice echoed from my left so I turned to the same direction.

What´s that on the left? It is a giant tube with a wide opening that comes from the ground and then turns to the right. A approached the tube and put my head inside it, it is completely dark.

"Is anyone there?!" I asked.

"Oh God thank you! Please! I am stuck here!" the voice said, it sounded like a young man with a very high pitched voice.

"What can I do to help you?" I asked.

"I have to go back to my home! I need to get out of here! I tried so many times to climb walls but they´re too slippery!" the man sounded desperate.

"You need to calm down and tell me what I have to do to help you!" I shouted.

"There is a door down here but it won´t budge! If you find the key please throw it through the tube!" the voice begged.

"Do you have any idea of where I can find the key?!" I asked.

"No! But beware of Buka!" the man warned.

"Buka?! Who is Buka?!" I asked.


	11. Omen

"Buka? Who is Buka?!" I asked.

"She´s…! No! No! Please don´t! I was just…!" the voice went silent.

"Are you okay?!" I asked through the hole but no one answered. "Please! I need to know who is this Buka! Answer me!" I shouted but still no answer.

I took my head out of the tube and closed my eyes. I don´t know how but I feel that man is dead, he sounded desperate after all, like…! I have to get out of here before it catches me too! I have to get back to my home! I have to…ugh! My head! It hurts! Why it hurts? I need to…focus!

"Look in my eyes…" the girl said.

The voice! It came from…above! Ah! There is a giant brown eye in the sky. It is looking straight at me! She found me! She´s going to kill me!

"Don´t be hasty…" she said calmly.

"I don´t trust you anymore! You tricked me into this nightmare! You lured me into a trap where you can snatch…me!" I said as I ran away with closed eyes.

The ground slowly became thicker and soon I could hear my own footsteps. I bumped my head into something hard. My head! Ouch! Ouch! Uh?Ah!

I am staring through a window, a window from my house. The skull monster is behind the trees on the horizon! He is huge! He is towering over the trees with his claw hands stretched forward! That thing is not too far away! Half a mile or so I could say!

I held my head with both hands. This can´t be happening! This CAN´T BE HAPPENING! This is not real! This ISN´T real! It can´t be! I looked through the window again, it is still there! I need to protect my house! I need to seal the entrances, the windows, the holes! I need to close them all or the monster will slip in!

I must be quick! The materials are in the upper floor! Now in what part of the room am I? I looked around, the telescope is at my side so I am in the last floor. Good! Now if I go to the right there should be the room where I store wooden planks! I opened the door but stopped, the room is completely dark and I don´t have the lamp or a candle with me! Dam! Now I need to grab each box and bring it to the observatory room, at least there is moonlight to illuminate the place.

One box, two box…fi-ve box! Uff! They were heavy! Here they are! Hammers, nails, glue, the planks are still inside the room. I grabbed one of the boxes and brought it downstairs, I will leave the telescope´s window open so I can watch the monster´s approach…even though it scares me.

…

Alright, now I have to take the planks down so I can board up the house…This is bad! I can´t find the light switch and I didn´t bring any candles or lamps with me. Where is the ladder? Oh! It is here! Good thing I brought a…Wait. I don´t have a candle with me so why there is an orange light shining over the ladder? Oh no, oh no! My whole body is shaking but I need to look what is behind me. Be something normal, be something normal, be something…

Phew! It is just a bunch of candles sustained by a metal support. They are resting on top of a…they are floating in the air!

"You are not welcome here!" I threw something from the open box at the candle but I missed.

"Is this how one should greet their guests?" a man said in a monotone voice.

"This is how I greet intruders!" I answered running away.

"Behold the man…" the man said very close to my ear.

"Get out of my house!" I answered closing a door behind me and shutting my eyes.

"It is foolish to be hiding within one´s self. " the man said.

"I´m not hiding! This is my home! You are invading it! Go away!" I shouted.

The man humbled something but I couldn´t understand a word, I don´t care anyway!

Footsteps echoed through the wood and gradually faded into nothing. "Is he gone?" I asked myself opening my eyes. It is dark but there is a small window to my right so a bit of moonlight is seeping into the room. I can see a pillow and a bed but this is not my bedroom, it is too small Where am I?

I could turn on the light but…if that monster is still outside it might see the light. I don´t want to be found but that doesn´t mean I´m hiding.

"You´re hiding." the girl said in my ear.

I jerked my head to the side but didn´t see her. My throat is sore and it feels like there is something stuck inside. With a sudden move I grabbed the knob of the door and ran outside the fastest I could. AHHH! I fell down through a hole in the ground. My stomach hurts! Everything hurts!

"Why don´t you leave me alone?! I just want to be alone *sobs*. Just let me sleep and forget this nightmare! Please!" I cried still on the ground.

I just want to know! Why? Why are you doing this to me?! I didn´t do anything wrong! I just wanted to study the forest and discover why it is so lifeless now. Why you keep haunting me?! I´m just doing my job! I´m just…*cries*

…

…

…

I can hear myself crying…*sobs*…but it sounds different…sounds more…high pitched…

"These cries are not mine…" I raised my head.

This is a…girl´s cries. I looked around but saw no monster. Actually I can´t see anything or hear anything (besides the constant crying). My head is killing me, it hurts a lot! These cries they…they remind me of…I must find the source of this, I must know the truth. I have to know the truth! I feel like my life depends on it.

I stood up and cleaned my tears, I can still hear the crying. Why this cry unsettles me? I almost feel…bad for her. Her? The girl? The same girl who is haunting me? The monster who is looming over the horizon? The intruder of my house? This doesn´t make sense! But…

"This house is broken…this house is maimed…" a male voice said slowly, the one that warned me moments ago.

He doesn´t sound menacing or evil, perhaps I could talk with him…

"Why it is broken?" I asked.

"It is completely dark in here…" he answered.

I frowned, what a good advice! I know it is dark you don´t need to remember me! By the way, where is the switch? It would be good to know where I am…But before that maybe the man can answer some questions.

"Who is Buka?" I asked.

No answer. I asked again but the man refused to tell me, I think he left the room. I walked forward with my arms stretched until I touched a wall, then I proceeded to walk to the right as I searched for the switch. You know, doing things methodically is easier than random searching.

Found it! Ok, now I just have to flip the switch and…Wait a second, is this really necessary? I mean…I don´t want…to be found…

"_You´re hiding."_ the girl said before

She´s right*sighs*, I´m hiding. But the question is…from what? From what am I hiding? From ghosts? Spirits? Creations of my own mind? What are these…these things that lurk in my house? I rubbed my chin, the only way to discover this is…I don´t like this idea.

I flipped the switch on just as a lighting ripped through the sky. The lamp sparkled but produced only sufficient light to illuminate a small spot on the ground. I narrowed my eyes, there was something on the ground but it was hard to see... I carefully walked towards the object and soon I recognized what it is: a diary page.

I grabbed the ripped piece of paper and used the light to read it:

"_The guests almost never kill. They only bring you back. Because you haven´t finished yet."_

Guests? I looked back at the paper, this is my handwriting but why it feels…weird. Also, guests? What guests? And what it means by "almost never kill"?. Does that mean they killed in the past? So many questions and yet so little in regard of answers. Unless…

I can hear something being dragged across the floor. *Gulp*. My plan worked, they are approaching. I can no longer hear the crying girl.

"Stay here." the girl said.

That´s what in doing *shivers*. I w-will put an end to this doubt, I´m going to ask them some questions. I-I will n-not fle-flee this time! I will talk with th-them face to-to face!

I can hear a door being shut, oh my they entered the room! I mu-must stay here! AHH! The lamp exploded in thousands of sparkles, leaving the room completely dark again. I moved my hands away from my face. Gah! They are in front of me!

There are two of them! The right one is the "thing" I saw days ago. It is a headless being with the body covered by a dark cloak with chains encasing the hands. The other is a tall and slim body(also headless) with what looks to be a rusted metal leg.

My whole body is trembling, they are just a few steps away, staring at me! I must have courage! They didn´t do anything yet. Yes! That´s it! I have no proof they are dangerous so…

"Free us…" the "cloak" one extended his hands, it sounds like an old man speaking.

"Let us be…" the other one said, his voice is sore but definitively younger than the other one.

They almost sound like…

"Wha-what do you mean? I-I don´t understand!" I said.

"Free us…! Unshackle our bindings…!" the older one said moving a little towards me.

I stepped back, "Wh-what? I am not trapping you here! You can go wherever you want, actually you can go now!" I shouted stepping back.

"You are seeing it all wrong…" the girl said from somewhere. "What are you thinking about?" she asked.

I looked around but didn´t find the girl so I quickly moved my head back to the…Impossible! The creatures, th-they changed! Their heads, their faces! I recognize these faces!


	12. Last page

I recognize these faces! They´re...they are...!

"Fa-ther! Grandpa!" I tried to say but my throat was sore and it was hard to speak. It feels like my heart is coming out!

I can feel tears coming out from my eyes, I…I! I cannot believe what is right in front of me! They should be dead! I saw my father burying my grandpa and I buried father myself! They both died years ago!

I kneeled on the ground, this must be a dream…yet…I can´t say if it is good…or bad…The-they died a few years ago…my grandpa first, dad roughly a year later…I was so sad at that time, the time I spent with them was like moss on the desert: short and harsh yet precious and unique. I never noticed until I lost them. How much I liked them, how much I enjoyed running from my grandpa or in the rare occasions where my father taught me something about science. The moments became memories and they were tightly locked away in my subconscious.

Tears ran across my face as my father with his metal leg crouched to face me. He was bald, wore a strap-jacket and there were dark marks around his eyes but he really was my father. I tried to speak but my tongue got in the way and only mumblings came out.

"You need to let us go my son. We died and have to move on but you are stopping us…" my father said with a crocked voice, the same voice that was haunting me those last days.

"But-but! I love you! You are my father and you my grandpa! You are my family! The ones who took care of me when I was just a toddler! I can´t forget you!" I exclaimed with tears on my eyes.

My grandfather placed his thin and big hand over my head, "It is not about forgetting us, you have to move on with your life. You are losing time, very precious time while your mind mourn our deaths. The pages of your diary are being filled with nothing but sad annotations, you must write something else before it is too late." he said with a raspy voice.

"But…! There is nothing happy in living alone on the middle of nowhere!" I exclaimed tearful.

I covered my face with my hands as I cried. I am alone in this broken house, they ´re dead, gone forever. My father, my grandfather, they are dead, buried under that unfertile soil which refuses to grow any new flower or tree. Why I still INSIST in restoring the forest?! What will I accomplish by doing that?!

A thunder echoed outside the house.

I stopped crying and opened my eyes, my father and grandpa had disappeared. "My legacy…this should be my legacy. A restored forest full of life and animals so people of the next generation may come and enjoy the same way I enjoyed it with my family. " I said as I stood up.

…*sniffles*… "I will miss you both, I will never forget you." I said to myself.

I feel better now…like a huge weight was taken out of my shoulders. *yawns*…I feel so tired, I think I could sleep at any moment. But I need to discover who are the guests and what they want from me*yawns*. I must find the truth, I must find the truth…. I must…find…the…

…

…

…

I see a dark sky in front of my eyes, this weird yet familiar sky. There are many stars shinning but there is no signal of the Moon.

"Beautiful, don´t you think?" a man asked from behind me.

I stood up and looked back at my father with a smile, he is a lot taller than me so I have to look upwards to see his face. He is wearing a brown jacket and smoking a long pipe.

"Yes! There must be dozens of stars up there!" I said excitedly as I used the telescope again. Rare are the occasions which dad has time to teach me something so I enjoy it the most I can.

My father laughed. "Dozens? There are millions of stars up in the sky, my son! We only know the existence of so many and there are many others waiting to be discovered. That´s why I love the stars, they may look the same but if you watch closely they´re completely different." he said eagerly but then smoked his pipe and that "grumpy" face returned.

"Unfortunately we can see so many with the equipment we have, most stars aren´t visible even with the latest technology and some are visible only in very specific occasions when the sky is clear and without any clouds which is rare even here in the forest." he said sighing.

I noticed a peculiar star with the telescope, it was brighter and slightly bigger than the others. I looked back at my father, "Dad, what is the name of that star?" I asked.

"Let me see it." he said gesturing for me to stand aside and I obliged. He adjusted the telescope height to match his size and looked through the lens. "What star are you talking about?" he asked.

"The middle one! It is a lot brighter than the others." I answered pointing to the sky.

My father munched his pipe and then stood up. He turned and went to a shelf close by. He grabbed a book and started to turn the pages, his frown deepened with each page.

"Is something wrong?" I asked worried I did something wrong with the telescope.

"Give me a moment…" he said severe.

I cowered in fear, what he was searching on that book? He never allowed me to touch it in the past because he feared I could damage the pages. He closed the book with the same frown on his face.

"Son…" he looked at me. "You…" he continued, I shrunk fearing some kind of punishment. "…discovered a new star." he said solemn.

I think my jaw broke, did he really say that? I discovered a new star in my first look?! I have to be certain! "Really?" I asked.

"Yes, there shouldn´t be any star at that position in this time of the night." he answered.

I looked at the window in disbelief, my first star! I discovered a star! I raised my hands upwards to celebrate as I shouted the highest I could: "I´m a star finder!"

…

…

…

I rubbed my head, I feel dizzy…did I just have a dream? No…a memory? Where…where am I? I CAN hear springs creaking every time I move so I should be on my bed. I am stretching my hand to the right, where is the lamp or the candle? I can´t find them! I looked to the left, the window is closed and I can see the gnarled tree at the other side, it seems it is still night.

I touched my face with both hands. This dream…or rather, these dreams are confusing…My father and grandpa are dead, I have to accept this. I should continue their work and do something about this forest, it is the least I can do for them. I think I am forgetting something…

…

…

…

I have to check the windows! The monster is outside! I jumped out of the bed and ran the fastest I could to the last floor. I climbed the stairs and went to the observatory´s window. It…it is CLOSER! Soon it will reach my house and catch me! I have to do something about it! Ouch! I fell down on something. It´s the wooden planks! I know what I have to do, I have to seal the entire house!

...

…

…

I sealed the windows, the doors, the holes, everything! Now nothing will come inside my house! Nothing! No monster, no ghosts, no beasts, no spirits, no intruders, hahaha! Hahahaha! HAHAHAHA! I´m finally safe! Invincible against this evil forest! Nothing can harm me now! Hahahaha! I´m in my room, with my candle, my bed, my sheet, my tools! My essential tools! I don´t care about the diary anymore! I´m not going to write in that thing again. I don´t care!

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Wh-what?! They´re in the front door! I can hear them knocking again and again! But they can´t enter, they can´t penetrate through my fortress! I took more precautions with the front door than any other part of the house. There are planks and lots of nails on it! They can´t possibly…

*Knock Knock Knock*

"Please go away! You´re not welcome!" I said.

*Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!*

"STOP! I SAID STOP! STOP KNOCKIN ON MY DOOR! LEAVE ME ALONE!" I shouted with all my strength.

*CREEEEEEEEAAAAAKK*

"No…no no no no!" I jumped from my bed, grabbed my candle and ran the fastest I could through the corridors.

I have to close the door! How did they open it? Ouch! I hit a wall! Arf Arf! The door…! I´m almost there! Just a few more rooms…! Ouch! I fell down on the floor! I stood up and continued to run.

I reached the last room but…! The door…it is closed. But I heard the door opening! Uh? Am I getting mad? Is my mind playing tricks on me? I held my head with my left hand.

"_Are you a mad scientist?"_ the girl had said a long time ago.

I´m not a mad scientist! I´m not crazy! These things are really happening! It is not my mind! It isn´t my imagination! If they are real then I´m not crazy!

*Knock Knock Knock*

I looked at the door but fortunately it was closed. And…and…there is a page fixed on the door. A paper…a page, a diary page…Is this real? Is my mind making things up? I stretched my hand but stopped. I feel…cold, breathless…empty. I touched the tip of the paper. I feel warmer now...a good feeling is spreading across my hand and into my body. I closed my eyes, it feels like someone is embracing me…

*Knock…knock…knock*

I opened my eyes. I…I will read one last page. Just this one before the monster comes…I…! I still have time…just enough time. Yes, I still have a bit of time, a minute at least. I can spare a minute to read this page and then go to my bed. I still have time, yes…

I took the page from the door.


	13. The Program

"_1_

_The first time we learned about the "Program" was in the fall, about six months after the unrest. They described it as a community initiative. Most of the tenants gathered in the courtyard of our complex. No one knew what was going on. Everyone was shouting, worried and guessing what will come next. All kinds of rumor."_

What? What is this? This is definitively my calligraphy, my words…This was ripped off my diary I´m sure, it is the same kind of paper and the left border seems ripped. But when did I write this and what is this "program"? And tenants? I live alone in this house, I couldn´t be referring to my father, I never refer to him or my grandpa as "tenant". This is so weird…Uh? There is another page on the door, exactly in the same spot. I grabbed the page and put it over the last one so I can hold them both at the same time. I raised my lamp over the page, let´s see if this page can give me more clues:

"2

_It came down to this: they would be removing children. As if from unfit parents. For what purpose-who knew? But against the backdrop of everything our government had done and justified in the recent years, the outlook was most sinister. At this point I decided to grab my son and escape the city, to the middle of nowhere."_

"WHAT?!" I shouted.

I have a son?! I lived in a city?! I had a wife?! But I don´t remember anything about this! It isn´t something one easily forgets! Then…then! Where are them?! Please don´t tell me…There is another page on the door! I quickly grabbed it.

"_3_

_First news about the Program. First, the summons arrives, and they announce a gathering. Usually at school. Then the door knockers come, young bastards like volunteers, wearing some party insighid. They go through the complex with lists and checks who shows up and who doesn´t."_

I don´t like where this is going…but I wrote on the second page that I fled, could it be that I fled to my grandpa´s house? Here in the middle of the woods? If so they would never find us, it is a very secluded and hidden place. Then…what happened to my son? There is another page on the door.

"4

_I´m not the only one getting clever. Everyone is getting ready to leave for somewhere. We´ve already been given another family´s furniture to look after. Everything is changing. Parents are hiding their kids with other people, so now we have two more. I don´t leave my child´s side for even a minute. Even in my sleep I hold his hand. The other children sleep with us too. It is crowded. The world is falling apart. Seems to me, this situation is headed to civil war."_

Civil War?! But why I nev…of course I don´t receive news about this war, they don´t send newspapers to the middle of a forest! But what about my son? What about the other children? There are no kid´s clothes in this house, I´m sure of it! Another page? Please, please! Tell me what happened to my son!

"_5_

_I had a nightmare that our turn came. We were led to the school, shoved into what used to be the gym. My son and I sat in a cell with a small barred window. I tried to push him through the window. From the other side came shouts, that any kid they catch would be taken unconditionally. There is no suffering worse than this feeling of helplessness."_

Just a nightmare, it didn´t really happen. At least there is another page on the door. Wait! How there are so many pages? It is like they are popping out of nowhere. But if they keep giving me answers, who am I to judge? I have been asking for answers for days and somehow I´m finding them now. I grabbed the next page.

"_7_

_It´s past the time when I should leave this apartment, but concern for the children stops me. Stumbling around like a sleepwalker, I don´t recognize a thing. They took the little ones. I haven´t seen them for at least two days…"_

A tear fell down on the middle of the page. They…they took my son *sniffs*. My precious son and the other children too…I rubbed my eyes. A storm is raging on the outside, lightings are falling in a constant pace. The entire room was lit by a brief second when a lighting appeared just outside a nearby window.

I have to find my son! I have to find him! I unlocked the door with my key AH! A lighting fell just in front of me! No matter! I have to find him!

"Do not…" the girl´s voice echoed through the storm.

"Don´t tell me not to look after my son!" I replied stepping out of the house.

Bruh! It is cold! The fire of my candle was blown away by the wind. I looked at the sky, it is dark with many clouds producing white lightings across the sky. I need to find my son! I´m running towards the forest! The trees are still far away! Arf! Arf! There is still a lot to go!

Why can´t I reach the trees?! They are so close but the distance in not getting smaller. WHY?! No…No no no no no! NO NO! The monster is rising from behind the trees. It is right behind the first set of trees! He is gigantic!30 meters at least! His right claw is holding some of the trees and the other is closed into a fist.

"Gruuuuuaaaahhhhh!" the monster roared.

I need to go back! Uh?! The monster is opening his left hand. Th-there is an unconscious kid on his claw! And it looks like a younger version of me! No…It can´t be! Could he be by child?!

*Creeeeeeek*

What´s that sound? I look back, the door of my house is closing! No! I have to keep it open!

*Bang!*

Dam it! it closed itself! I turned my back to the house and faced the monster again. He is inclining his body to the side as if he´s going to throw a ball, his left hand curled into a fist.

"No! DON´T DO THIS!" I screamed running towards the monster with my hands extended. "Don´t!"

The monster launched the boy high towards the sky, his body crossed the sky like a projectile and then disappeared on the horizon. I kneeled on the ground.

"How could you…" I whispered. The monster turned and faced me.

"You kidnaped my son…" I said, the creature got out of the trees, his lower half is just a pillar of pure blackness.

"And you…killed him…" I said as the creature passed by my side.

*Bang! Crack crack crack!*

"Is this your real home?" the girl asked from behind me.

I turned my head. The monster is holding the walls of my house with his claws.

"This is the wrong house…" the girl said.

The monster put pressure to the side, the walls cracked.

*Creeeeek* *Kablam!*

I…there´s nothing left. I lost my son, my house, the forest, the…the…ARRRGH! My head! It hurts so much! It´s like a giant headache!

"And what should he do now?" a male voice asked, it is the same that warned me that my house should be fixed.

I tried to look upwards but there is no one in front of me or at my sides.

"Who…who´s talking?" I mustered all my energy into the question.

"Live…wherever…you want to live…" the girl said surprisingly calm.

My head!

"You…you…destroyed my house! I have no place…to go." I said holding my forehead with my left hand. I looked back, my house is nothing but rubbles and the monster is no longer there.

"He simply does not know where to look yet." the male voice spoke in a bored tone.

"Look where?! There is nothing but a dead forest!" I protested.

"Can you see the air?" the male voice asked.

I…! The air…the air is a mixture of gases which are not visible by the human eye but it is always there… No, this doesn´t make any sense. There can´t be invisible people, meat and blood aren´t invisible they are solid and liquid matter. They decompose, degenerate and turn into other substances and-

*Multiple Lightings*

"Open the door!" a young man shouted from far away.

What? This voice…I think I…Oh my head! It hurts so much!

"You have to open the door! Buka is angry!" the man warned, his voice getting higher with each word.

"The door? Ouch!" I said trying to open my eyes. I opened my right eye and saw a figure clad in a blue cloth. I can´t see his face but I´m sure it is the same person calling for me.

"Buka wll eventually kill you if you don´t open the door!" the man warned in a high pitched voice.

"Who are you?" I asked still in pain.

"I can cure you! But you have to open the door for me!" the man shouted amidst the raging storm.

"The door…? I have to open…the k-key!" I said rubbing my head.

"Yes, the key! You have to find the key and open the door for me!" the man urged.

"You´re…the man…" I grunted closing my eyes, I can´t stand this pain anymore! It feels like my head is going to explode!

"Well well…If it isn´t the little detective or should I say…defective?" another man said with a lower pitched voice. "I though you said you would find the truth." he said.

"I…I…" was all what I managed to say in my sorry state.

"You get away from him! You should be gone!" the other man warned.

"Gone? Me? Why should I be gone?" the "older" man asked sarcastically.

"Because there is no reason for you to be here!" the younger man shouted.

"I have my reasons to be here." the older man answered.

"No you have not! You are just stubborn!" the younger man exclaimed.

"And you are naive." the older man said bored with the discussion.

"I known more than you do!" the younger man shouted.

"And I, don´t, even, care." the older man said with a pause between each word. "But I know something, what the eyes can´t see the heart can´t feel." he said with an aura of authority.

*Dozens of lightings ripping through the sky*

*Rain falling down in an incredible intensity that minor pools of water are formed before reaching the ground*

*Winds strong enough to release the leaves of trees*

I shook my head to the sides, I´m trying my best to stay awake, to-to-remain here…I have to open the-the door for the man! I don´t know why! But I have to! It hurts so much! So much! I think I can die from the pain alone!

"You have to open the door! Do not trust him!" the younger man urged again.

The older man grunted something as if in pain, "Why all this effort? You suffered a lot less when you weren´t trying to find it." he said.

"Family is NOT suffering!" the other man protested.

I can hear the earth shaking, the monster is roaring behind me. Family? Family? They´re dead…they passed away years ago. I´m the last, the sole survivor of my bloodline. No one to support me, to aid me…

The monster ´s roars are loud and deafening, I don´t even dare open my eyes now! She is probably right behind me now!

"Open…" the young man said amidst the mixture of sounds. "the….door…".

My heart weighed more than a house and something was stuck in my throat trying to get out. It was like the muscles of my body were hugging each other in a desperate attempt to stop something. "Give me back my child!" I shouted with all the strength I had.

I opened my eyes and saw two piercing eyes staring directly at me.

**Notes:**

**Sorry for the long delay, I rewrote this chapter a bunch of times because I wasn´t sure about how it should go on. **

**The diary pages are taken directly from the game with only a minor difference. This is probably the chapter with the most content until now. **


	14. Change

I was met by a pair of piercing eyes staring directly at me. I backed away only to reach a wall.

"Ahh!" I shouted covering my eyes.

"You´re finally awake." a woman said sighing.

I uncovered my eyes, I think I know this voice…but how can it be? I can see the "nurse" looking at me from across the bed, her uniform is dirty with many brown spots all over it and the cap is missing, allowing her long brown hair to fall behind her head. I looked around the room, it is the hospital room but the walls are slightly covered in dust and dirt.

"Wh-what happened? Where am I?" I asked looking around.

"In…the hospital." the nurse answered.

"I thought I was in my house, my destroyed…was that a dream too?" I said, my muscles are still stiffened.

"Yes…" the nurse said emotionless, "…you fled to the garden while you were sleeping. Attracted the attention of everyone, I had to restrain you and bring you back to this room." she gestured to her dirty clothes.

"I must thank you, I suppose…" I said looking at her eyes, I think she´s judging me.

"It had to be done…" the nurse turned and walked to the other side of the room, she looked at a circular clock that hang on the wall.

I looked at the side of the bed, there is a small vase on top of a small table. Inside the vase rests a yellow flower of medium size. It has delicate petals so soft they look like thin paper which are arranged like a lettuce. It is quite beautiful I must say yet so fragile, I think that even a light touch can make it fall to pieces. I think the name of this specimen is…encatation? Coracion? Incarnation? I don´t quite remember…It is something that ends with "ion".

"It´s about time…" the nurse said returning.

"Time for what?" I asked, what´s she going to do? Why her eyes are so angry?

The nurse grabbed a small cup from the small table at the bed´s side and offered to me.

"Here, drink this. This is for your…headaches." she said when I didn´t grab it.

"Is this really not a dream?"! I asked looking down at my hands.

Someone pinched my cheek, "Does that answer your question?" the nurse asked leaning back.

"Ouch! Actually, it doesn´t. I did it last time and I was still dreaming." I answered.

"No, you´re not dreaming. Don´t you remember me? We met days ago when you last awaked, my sister was here too." the nurse said.

"You´re….you, I remember. So that was not a dream?" I asked myself.

It is pretty hard to have the same dream twice, let alone with the same people. Also, I think it is impossible to have a dream with voices you never heard of since your brain has no material to use in the dream. I´m sure I never heard her voice before. Ouch my head hurts! It seems I still have headaches…

"Sir, drink the tea." the nurse insisted.

You know, thinking about it… "Thanks." I grabbed the cup but frowned.

The liquid is light yellow and there seems to be a leaf in the bottom with some grains floating in the middle. I sniffed the liquid, it has the smell of herbs. "What is this?" I asked.

"Chamomile, green tea, cinnamon and ginger." the nurse answered.

Well…they are good for headaches by themselves but to mix them…and I don´t think it is hot either. I took a deep breath and brought the cup to my lips…Bl-blerg! It is cold! And bitter! And horrible!

"It´s cold!" I said to the nurse.

She mumbled something under her breath, I can hear the word "ungrateful" and "I knew it".

"If you don´t want it give it to me!" the nurse extended her hand.

"Could you heat it up?" I asked giving the cup.

"No…" the nurse answered.

No? Why not? It is just a simple task. I´m not asking much. "Why not?" I asked.

"Because unfortunately the ovens are broken." she answered.

"ALL the ovens are broken? How is this even possible?" I said.

The nurse pointed her finger at me but said nothing else. Is she saying that I broke the ovens? But I didn´t break any ovens…unless…Ah I see…during my sleep. I hang down my head, "It´s my fault, isn´t it?" I asked.

The nurse nodded, I sighed. "Okay, I will drink this." I extended my hand to take the cup.

I looked at the cup on my hands, I closed my eyes and held my breath. 1,2, 3…Ready or not here I go!...OH BY EINSTEIN BEARD! I can feel the taste spreading across my tongue and my cheeks, rapidly reaching my throat! *Gasps*, I did…I drank everything, *gasps*…

The nurse chuckled, "You make it look like it is the worst thing in the world." she said.

"It is!" I argued sticking my tongue out, the nurse frowned. "…but if it means I will get better faster I will do it." I said returning the cup.

I looked outside the window at my left. Perhaps I should do something about the ovens…It is literally my fault that they are broken. "Miss Nurse, I´m sorry for the trouble I caused for you. About the ovens, maybe I can repair them. I used to fix my own oven and steam machines back in my house." I said looking back at the nurse.

"Would you really do this?" the nurse asked quite surprised.

"Yes, it is the least I can do. Besides, I´m responsible for it." I replied.

"Unfortunately I cannot allow it. You have to recover from your…condition and I received orders from the doctor that you should rest." she answered.

"I insist, let me fix them." I said.

"No, you must rest." the nurse argued.

"I must fix my own errors before they affect other people too. Please, let me fix the ovens." I retorted.

"In your current state you will die if you try!" the woman shouted.

"My family is dead, my son was taken, my house is falling apart, the forest is dead, I can´t get a single night without nightmares and I have no friends. WHO CARES IF I DIE?! You don´t care!" I answered.

I received a powerful slap on the face.

"MISTER! Don´t talk to me with this tone!" the nurse shouted.

"I´m just trying to fix my mistakes!" I retorted.

"You will NEVER fix them if you don´t listen to others!" she shouted.

"At least I try! You are a nurse yet you treat me like trash! It´s like you don´t want me to get better!" I shouted.

"I want you to get better!" the nurse touched her chest with the left hand.

"Then why your actions don´t reflect this desire?!" I asked pointing at her.

"Don´t you see I´m trying my best?! Do you think it is easy for me?!" the nurse asked.

"I never said that! But just because you´re having the worst moment of your life don´t mean you can´t be nice with other people!" I answered.

"And what do you know about this?!" the nurse retorted.

I shook my head with closed eyes and then I took a deep breath. How this conversation reached this point? What is this? I would never shout at someone like that, specially a woman. Father told me to never do so…then why? Why I´m reacting like this? I looked straight into the nurse´s eyes, they´re light brown. I…think they´re beautiful yet…fearsome…scary…twisted…. Like…like…I don´t know! They´re so familiar.

Wait! I think there´s some connection…something I forgot…! Or maybe… something I should know? What? Isn´t this the same thing?

"Miss…your eyes…they remind me of someone." I said rubbing my head. Well…it feels like the tea really did its job, I´m not feeling any headache.

"_Look into my eyes"_

The nurse raised a brow, "Oh? Really?" she asked with a hint of a smile in her face.

"Yes, they remind of…of…" I hesitated, what was I going to say?

"You must be confusing me with my sister." the nurse said.

I frowned, "Your sister? The little girl that…was here with you last time?" I asked.

"Of course, we´re siblings after all." the nurse chuckled.

"You don´t look like her, not at all." I said. Wait! Why did I say that? What I´m doing?!

"What did you just say?" the nurse narrowed her eyes.

"I didn´t mean to offend! But it is true! She has black hair and blue eyes while you have brown hair and eyes." I waved my hands to the sides.

The nurse sighed, "You are hopeless." she hung her head down.

I raised a brow, "What do you mean?" I asked.

"It is useless to reason with you…or rather…to befriend you." she turned her back and looked at the opposite wall. "You said that my eyes remind you of something. That´s curious…there is a saying in my family…The eyes are the gates to the soul. I always wondered why…" she whispered the last part.

"The eyes are the gates to the soul…" I repeated.

"_Look into my eyes."_ the girl had said.

Wait! The girl told me to look into her eyes…her soul…and there was a giant eye on the wall of my house. At least in my dreams…And I was looking at the nurse´s eyes when I awoke, her soul…

I looked at the nurse, could she be the girl? No, this is impossible. But then…

"Excuse me miss…" I said but then the nurse turned again.

She chuckled, although it sounded harsh and somewhat deep, like something rumbling inside a chamber…

"Miss! Who thought one day I would be called miss. Mister…" the nurse hesitated.

"Albert, son of George and Maria." I said, did she seriously forgot my name? I mean, aren´t nurses supposed to know the names of their patients? Although I never spoke my name.

The nurse yelped in surprise and took many steps back until her back hit the wall. Her eyes were wide open and she had an expression of terror in her face.

"What´s the problem? Why you´re scared?!" I asked genuinely concerned. It´s like she saw a monster.

"B-Bug!" she shouted and ran towards the door. She exited and slammed the door behind her.

Bug? I looked down, there´s a large black beetle on top of the blanket crawling towards my hand. I extended my palm to the insect and it crawled onto it. I brought my hand closer to my face.

"Did you came from the garden?" I asked to the oblivious insect.

This is a common specimen, yet it is strangely big for its species. Perhaps it´s because it ate a lot? I turned my hand to inspect the bug which for some reason didn´t move yet. "Actually, it has been some time since I last saw one of you. I only have a couple in my collection, I wonder if they´re your relatives…" I whispered.

I shook my head, nah that´s way too unlikely. The bug turned to the left and I followed its gaze, it seems he´s looking at the cup in my left hand. I looked inside the white cup, there´s still a wet leaf inside.

"I see…you´re hungry." I smiled as I moved my right hand towards the cup.

"Wait! There´s still a bit of tea inside." I moved my hand away and drunk the rest of the tea, fortunately I managed to avoid eating the leaf too. Oh my! It is still disgusting!

"Now, it is all yours." I said moving my hand back to the cup, the beetle promptly jumped inside and went for the leaf.

I put the cup back on the table at the side of the bed and then rested my back on the wall.

"Why was she so scared of a little bug? It is harmless and have no poison…of course I know this because I studied about them, she may have thought otherwise…" I said.

I stretched my arms towards the ceiling, "I feel so tired….yet I´m restless. These nightmares are doing me no good." I said yawning.

I looked outside the window, it is still foggy outside but it seems to be less dense than before. I wonder how long I will have to wait…I´m not sure what the doctors are thinking about me, I´m not physically injured but not at 100% either…Maybe they´re waiting for the police to investigate my home and…search for the one who knocked me, maybe? If that´s the case then I´m safer here than in my house. This…of course…if that wasn´t another dream.

I rubbed my head, the pain is not totally gone. The tea really did its job but it still stings a little like someone is piercing my head with little needles from time to time. Maybe I got a concussion when I fell and they´re giving me drugs while I´m asleep, I´m not sure. I don´t quite remember the exact symptoms but I´m sure headaches and light sensitivity are part of it. But…can these symptoms carry over to the dreams?

Uh? There´s something coming from the fog. It´s floating towards the window, it´s thin, white and not very large. A piece of paper? I grabbed the paper when it came close enough and held it with both hands. It seems to be a full page of a notebook. The page is white with light blue horizontal lines and a leaf drawn in the top right corner. There´s a message written in the middle:

"_This isn´t a dream! This is your actual house!"_


End file.
